To win the election, Buhari had needed to win more than 50 percent of the total votes nationally – and take at least 25 percent of the vote in two thirds of the states.

The 72-year-old built an early lead in northern states dominated by the mainly Muslim, Hausa-Fulani ethnic group of which he is a member.

Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, whose five years in office have been plagued by corruption scandals and an insurgency by Boko Haram fighters, was trailing by around 500,000 votes before votes in pro-opposition areas were counted.

In the previous election, more than 800 people were killed in protests after Buhari was defeated by Buhari.

There was a brief protest by Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the counting had resumed on Tuesday.